Overheated foot controller
 

I know the old style foot controllers get warm. But .... I just finished sewing about 4 feet worth of decorative stitches on our MW 7 Jewell with the new cams. Been having some trouble with it eating needles. It can be finicky so I was going slow.

After finishing I showed it to my wife and then we walked back to the sewing machine and I bumped the foot controller with the side of my foot. I sew either bare foot or in socks. I just don't have a good "feel" for the controller with my shoes on.

THAT THING WAS VERY HOT! Too hot to pick up. I picked it up by the pedal part and got if off the carpet.
The thing is, it's a new foot controller. We bought it especially for this machine since when we got it it had no cord block or controller.

So my question is; is it normal for these things to get hot enough to burn you when you sew a long continuous stitch slowly?

Joe

In a word, NO!

It needs an adjustment. Some of the old Singer foot controls do this and need to be adjusted. Sounds like there is current going through it while it's not being used. There are tutorials on the vintage singer yahoo site that show you how to do it.

I went to the Yahoo Japanese machine group, signed up and promptly got lost. Couldn't navigate or find anything at all. I've never been back.

This foot controller is an Alpha Sew unit sold by Sew-Classic. I've bought several in the last for or so months and this is the first one to get hot like this.
I don't know if it has any adjustments but I'll pop it open and look.

I sent an email to Sew-Classics about it so we'll see what she says about it.

Joe

I remember other folks saying it turned out to be loose wiring or the "friction" (probably wrong term??) mechanism inside the unit being loose or something like that. Loose something, anyway!!

Popped it apart a couple three hours ago and nothings loose that I can see. Wiggled everything, all tight.

Joe

I've had the same problem with the foot controller on the 2005 White sewing machine I inherited from my mom. My old Featherweight foot controller works great - never a heat problem with the old one and the replacement new one I got a couple of years ago when the plug in broke on the machine. The White foot controller gets so hot it starts to scorch the non-slip pad I was using to keep it from moving over the carpet.

I finally gave up and just have to remind myself to shut off the machine every so often to let it cool down. It only seem to happen after about an hour or two of sewing, so I usually need to take a break from sewing anyway.

I think it's a design flaw with the newer foot controls. I think the manufacturers just are trying to keep costs under control and they don't care if their customers have problems with overheating....this way they can sell a new machine.

The older traditional (non-electronic) foot controls will heat up when sewing slowly. The electronic ones do not.

Yes, that I know. It's not the heating up that bothered me, it was the amount of heat in such a short time that bothered me.

I've got several machines with old style foot controllers that I have done slow sewing on and this one is the only one to get "this" hot.

.................................................. .......................................

In the same vein I got the response from Sew-Classic this morning. She only partially answered my questions.
So I still don't have a definitive answer whether or not the amount of heat this unit put out was normal.

My question:


Sew-Classics answer:






I have no idea where she came up with the idea the controller was just barely on,not enough to move the motor when I clearly said I was sewing slowly.

I don't know anymore. Does anyone really comprehend English?



Joe

What she means is that electricity is going to your pedal even though your foot is not engaging it fully "on". When you're sewing slowly, you're not sewing for 1/2 hr. without stopping. You sew, lift your foot off the pedal, adjust your fabric, stop to pin etc. Normally, your foot pedal should not be conducting current during these breaks and that's when they should be cooling down. Yours is continuing to conduct current as soon as it's plugged in the wall, so it seems. If you give the yahoo groups another chance it's an easy fix, I believe and they have photos and how to's. I've had to adjust several of my foot controls. More for speed than heat, though.

Candace,

A couple last comments then I'll drop this.

I've had the controller apart. There is no contact when the pedal is up. So if there is current flowing then there's a short and it's defective.

I was sewing slowly for about 5 feet of decorative stitches. Up one side, 18", stop turn the material, across the top, about 24" or so, stop turn the material, down the the other side, 18". All of this very slowly so I could keep the pattern straight and keep the machine from eating the needle. All of this with the machine adjusted to a satin stitch feed speed. So it took quite a while.

I've had more contacts with Sew-Classic, the foot controller is out of the warranty exchange time period, so it don't matter. I'll be using it again to do a pattern chart and if it over heats again I'll just take it off, trash it and buy a new one.

As for Yahoo, I don't need the headaches that trying to navigate that format gives me.

Joe

OK, I fibbed. Back with another observation and question.

"IF" say the motor was tired and pulling more amps than it should, "could" that cause the foot controller to heat up?

I ask this question because I just finished maybe 20 minutes of sewing with the machine: medium speed - for me anyway, 8" sections of decorative stitches, then stop, change cams, reposition my felt piece then go again.

I felt the foot controller ..... getting warm. I felt the motor = very warm. Motor shouldn't be warm like that. It has been oiled, but I've not checked the brushes.

The story behind this machine is that the folks at Goodwill said it was broke. The motor wouldn't shut off unless you unplugged it. They were plugging the motor directly into a wall socket. The machine didn't have a cord block or foot controller. I'm wondering if they messed up the motor playing with it.

I've checked it's plaque and it's rated for 1.5 amps. The electronic foot controllers like Sew-Classic sells are only rated for 1.2 amps. So ....... I'm just thinking out loud as this old machine makes real nice decorative stitches. I'd hate to burn out the motor. Although I do have a spare.


Joe

I have a 201 and I find if I put the foot controller on the carpet it gets really hot!!! And if I sew slow I have to let it cool off for a while. I put a couple feet on the bottom of the controller, the old ones were gone, and I also put in on a hard board so it doesnt touch the carpet. I was also worried about the heat when I was not using it so I unplug the machine. Worried about elect. running through the cord when I am not around. It does have old wires. Good luck.

Yesterday when I was sewing with the 7 Jewel I "borrowed" the synthetic heat shield my wife bought for her iron. Some kind of rubber pad with bumps on it to set the iron on. I used it for the foot controller. It seemed to help since it didn't get near as hot as it did the day before.

I also did an experiment with the motor. The original motor is a 1.5 amp motor and gets hot when sewing a lot of slow stuff. So I switched it out for my spare motor witch is a .9 amp motor to see what would happen.
Well, with the .9 amp motor, the foot controller still got hot, and so did the motor.

So, this is what I have gleaned from my experiment:
>Sewing slow, using cams and decorative stitches, puts a heavier load on the motor and electrical system than straight stitching or normal zig-zagging. This makes the motor work harder and the foot controller works harder too. The carbon pile or resistor in the controller converts unused electricity to heat, so when going slow it creates a lot of heat.
>Normally you don't play touchie feelie with the motor or foot controller when you're sewing so you don't realize how much heat they produce.
> Until smoke and flames erupt from the electrical parts, or your foot starts smoking, don't worry about it.

I do try to remember to unplug the machines too. There's no real reason to leave them plugged in.

Joe :D

I find It's real easy to plug into s surge protector or power strip, and then turn the strip off when finished. Sometimes I might forget to unplug a machine, but I rarely forget to turn the strip off.

In England we have to have our machines PAT tested by a qualified electrician so that we can take them to workshops etc. One of them told us that the machines are usually fine, but the testing is more for the foot pedals as that's where the problems usually begin. I've known a couple of instacnes where the foot pedal can burst into flames. We were advised to also unplug our machines from the socket, not just switch off the the switch on the wall, so that if there is a power surge your machine is protected.

2Chuckie2,

I've heard of them getting hot, and I've experienced it. But never heard of one catching fire. I'd like to avoid that.

What is "PAT testing"?

Joe